Static linking considered harmful

[Matt Davey]

A lot has been said already in this thread, and I'm not qualified to
contribute to the technical discussion but am happy to contribute my two
cents.

cent #1: removing all static libs from fedora overnight would cause
headaches for a sizeable chunk of fedora users.
cent #2: making -static RPMs available, at least for one full fedora
release cycle, but probably longer, would be a sensible migration path.

It seems obvious to me that when you are considering a change such as
this that you should be cautious.  I think it's fair to consider static
linking as a 'deprecated API'.  As such, if a decision is made to move
away from it, then it should hang around as an available option for a
fair while, to enable people to migrate or re-architect.  Anything else
is just a bit rude.

Forcing people to adjust overnight because suddenly a technically
superior solution has been mandated will unnecessarily alienate a lot of
people.

Matt

Matt Davey     Why is it difficult to find men who are sensitive, caring and
mcdavey at mrao.cam.ac.uk 	good looking?  -  They've all got boyfriends already.